Considered the father of the modern hurdling technique, Alvin Kraenzlein was the star of the 1900 Olympic Games, winning four individual gold medals, the only track athlete ever to accomplish that feat. Kraenzlein was the first to go over the hurdle with a straight front leg and the trailing leg tucked under.
While at the University of Wisconsin, Kranezlein won his first major championship in the AAU national 220-yard hurdles in 1897. That year, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he won AAU national championships in the 120- and 220-yard hurdles in 1898 and 1899 and was also the 1989 long jump champion. He also captured IC4A championships in both hurdling events for three straight years, 1898 through 1900. He scored a record 18 points in the 1899 meet, when he won the 100-yard dash and finished second in the long jump to lead Penn to the team championships. At the 1900 Paris Olympics, he won the 60m dash, long jump, 110m hurdles and 200m hurdles over a three-day period. Over his career, he held world records in four events.
He earned his dentistry degree from the University of Pennsylvania but chose coaching as a profession. He served as head track coach at the University of Michigan from 1910 until 1913 and later coached the German and Cuban national teams before becoming assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania.